A Promise Never Kept
by Scarlet1474
Summary: When they were twelve her best friend Percy Jackson promised that he'd always be there for her. The next day he disappeared and was never seen again. What happens when four years later, she moves to New York and meets Percy Jackson once again. But something is different, HE is different. What happened that day when Percy disappeared? Read to find out. AU/No Gods.
1. Prologue

**Hey everyone, this is my first PJO Fanfic and constructive criticism is needed, but please no Flames. So anyway this is just the prologue and is in Annabeth's PoV and they are both twelve and living in San Francisco. So, anyway I won't bore you with a long AN cause I know you won't read anyway. Enjoy.**

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**ANNABETH**

"Hey Wise Girl, what happened?" My best friend since first grade-Percy Jackson-asked looking at me as we walked to our separate buses. He was a scrawny kid, a little shorter than me and had messy raven black hair and beautiful sea-green which were always filled with warmth and happiness.

"It's nothing." I said trying to act casual.

"Now Annie don't you dare lie to me." He said standing in front of me and looking me straight in the eye.

"It's just... Helen hates me and she never let's me hang out with Bobby and Matthew, who ignore me like the only Gods know why. To top it all off dad hardly ever spends any time with me anymore. I feel like an outsider in my own home, like they don't want me there and sometimes I wish I wasn't, sometimes I just feel like running away you know. Go somewhere far away from here and just disappear. I mean it's not like anyone's gonna miss me."

"Hey, don't ever say that because it's not true, okay. Because I will always care for you and I'll always be there when you need me. Your mom might have abandoned you and your dad might not care for you but I always will."

"Are you serious."

"Yes." He answered easily.

"Then promise me that you'll never leave me, that you will always be here for me."

"Isn't that what I just said." He said cockily. "But yeah I promise Annie."

"Don't call me that, Seaweed Brain."

"Whatever you say Wise Girl. Just don't go running away though, who'll save me from the bullies and help me with homework if you do." With that he ran off to his bus and I boarded mine, having no idea that this might just have been the last time I ever saw my Seaweed Brain.

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**So, what do you think? I am already working on the first chapter but I'll only carry on with it if you guys think I should. So please REVIEW. **

**-Scarlet.**


	2. Four Years Later

**Hey guys, I wanna thank all the people who reviewed, Favorited and followed this story. I really appreciate it. **

**This chapter is about four years into the future and is in Percy's PoV, who is now living in New York. Enjoy**

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**PERCY **

I woke up drenched in sweat, my feet tangled in my sheets, breathing heavily. I closed my eyes tightly shut and tried to force the horrifying images from my latest nightmare out of my mind. You'd think that after four years they'd stop but recently they'd started getting more frequent instead. Probably because THAT day was so close. The day that changed my life forever.

After a few moments of trying to make myself breathe normally, I calmed down. I looked over at my bedside table to look at the alarm clock it read 6:30 am. I groaned but I knew that I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep so I got off the bed and walked to my bathroom. Did I mention I have my own bathroom, no. Well I also have a gaming room and a guest room for when my cousins or any of my friends are sleeping over. So, technically it's not a room more like a suite of a five star hotel.

You see my father, Poseidon Olympia owns his own shipping company and is filthy rich. He also has two brothers Zeus-who has his own airline-and Hades-who owns a chain a of jewelry stores. They are both rolling in cash just like dad. Zeus has a daughter named Thalia Grace and Hades has twins named Nico and Bianca Di Angelo. Plus we are all in the same year too.

I am really close to my cousins, we are practically like brothers and sisters. Unlike our fathers who spend every second of every minute fighting about something or the other the four of us actually get along quite well. Though we do fight a lot but it's not even close to how our fathers are. Anyway, they were the only people I ever told about what happened that day. They had been so supportive of me and helped me back on my feet after everything that happened they're the reason I had made any progress at all. Without them I don't know where I would be right now.

I entered the kitchen to find my dad already there sitting on the huge counter eating bacon and toast. I sat down next to him and our chef Guido started making me my favorite breakfast of coffee and blue blueberry pancakes. Let me explain the blue food cause you're gonna be seeing a lot of that, you see my mom once got in a fight with our witch of a neighbor about the existence of blue food. While the neighbor Mrs Stewart, said it was impossible my mom argued that it was. Since then my mom would go out of her way to cook blue food, especially when Mrs Stewart came over for dinner or tea. I guess it just stuck with me even after all these years.

"Percy are you alright?" Dad asked tentatively. "I heard you yelling in your sleep again."

"Umm yeah. Just had a nightmare, it's nothing. I'm sorry I woke you up." I said not meeting his eyes we both knew it wasn't nothing and that the nightmares would just get worse as that day got close. It wasn't a new thing after all, it had been like this for the past few years now.

"Look Percy, I know you don't like to talk about it but remember that I'm here for you and you can always come to me for anything. Okay."

"I know dad. I'll be fine." We ate in silence after that until Luke showed up. Luke Castellan was an agent who had started training when he was eleven and he had been on the run for about an year or so before that. From what Luke had told me, he never knew his father and his mom was a nutcase, so he ran away. Anyway, Luke was eighteen but everyone at school school thought he was sixteen since he was in the same year as me. You see I didn't want anyone to know that I had a bodyguard let alone the reason why I would ever need one. He had been my bodyguard ever since I went back to school last year. It had been my dad's idea and at first I had been utterly irritated but then I had made friends with him and it didn't seem so bad.

"Hey Percy, come on we better get to school." Luke said as he came in. He lived in the guest house and we told everyone at school that he was a family friend who's parents were always traveling, only my cousins and other family members knew who he really was. I got up grabbed my bag, said a quick goodbye to dad and then we were off.

I parked my car and we got out. At the gates I saw Thalia and Nico arguing about something and Bianca standing behind them shaking her head in frustration. I walked up to them and tapped the fighting pair on their shoulders. They turned to me and said

"Hey Percy." Exactly at the same time and we all started laughing as the two blushed. Thalia had spiky black hair and electric blue eyes and was wearing a Green Day shirt under her black jacket and a of ripped jeans. Nico had dark hair and equally dark eyes and was wearing black jeans, a black t-shirt with a skull on it and an aviator's jacket. Whereas Bianca had long, dark brown hair and soft brown eyes. Nico and Bianca looked so different that sometime I forgot they were twins.

"So guys, What are you two fighting about now?" I asked.

"Death Breath here-" She said turning to Nico "won't tell me where he hid my new Green Day album."

"That's because I didn't take it." Nico retorted. I sighed as they started bickering again.

"Guys can we discuss this later. I seriously don't wanna be late for Algebra, Mrs Dodds hates me enough as it is."

"Fine." Thalia said and walked off with Bianca at her side. Me, Nico and Luke went to our own lockers to get our books. Just as I got to my locker I saw a girl standing two lockers away looking at a piece of paper and frowning. She had an athletic figure, a deep tan like she had spent a lot of time at then beach but it looked good on her, her curly blond hair was tied in a simple ponytail. The girl looked up and I saw her stormy, grey eyes staring at me.

A flood of memories, happy ones washed over me and I stared at the girl in disbelief. I had never thought I would ever see her again after everything that happened and yet there she was, four years later looking as beautiful as ever. I wondered if it was a dream, it had to be. For there was no way that the girl standing in front of me was my childhood best friend and the only girl I ever had a crush on. There was no way that Annabeth Chase was here and yet she was.

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**So, what do you think. Liked it? Loved it? Hated it? Please review and tell me. **

**Also, the first two people who will answer this question correctly will get a sneak peek as to what happened to Percy and why he was living with his dad and had a bodyguard.**

**Q. In book five, which statues do Percy activate to attack the flying pig he's chasing?**

**Thanxx for reading. Don't forget to Review.**

**-Scarlet**


	3. Author's Note

**Hey Guys,**

**Sorry but this isn't a chapter like you all wanted it to be. But there are probably not gonna be one of those for a bit. The reason being my mid-terms are just round the corner and I'm not exactly the brightest in my class. So any way I'm supposed to be concentrating on my studies especially I'm in tenth grade this year and my grades would decide what subjects I would be able to get next year. So bottom line I can't update for awhile but I will tell you this- I AM NOT GONNA ABANDON THIS STORY. So please bear with me and I assure you I'll be writing as soon as I can.**

**-Scarlet**


	4. First Day and Surprises

**Hey Guys, **

**I know I said I won't update till after Mid-Terms but it's my Birthday today and I had just enough time to finish this. I will start updating regularly after the 20th which is when I have my last exam. Also I am really happy cause my little brother bought me a copy of House of Hades online and it will be here on the 8th of October and I am sooo excited. Anyway let's move on to the stor...**

**Percy: Hey Scarlet!**

**Me: OMG! Percy, What are you doing in my Author's Note?**

**Percy: Umm Annabeth told me to remind you that you're forgetting something.**

**Me: What?**

**Percy: You forgot it in the previous chapters too.**

**Me(Scratching her head): What did I forget?**

**Annabeth: Oh Your memory is worse than Seaweed Brain!**

**Me: Now you're here too. What is this 'attack of the main characters' or something?**

**Annabeth: You're forgetting something.**

**Me: WHAT?**

**Annabeth and Percy: The Disclaimer!**

**Me(Facepalms): I am such an idiot. Sorry.**

**Annabeth: Don't forget it next time.**

**Percy: Now can I go and eat blue cookies.**

**Annabeth: Yes.**

**Percy: Yay. (Disappears with a pop dragging Annabeth along with him.)**

**Me(Shaking my head): What in Hades just happened? Well anyway.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Percy, Annabeth or the gang they belong to Rick Riordan. And anyway, if I did I wouldn't have been writing fan fiction and going crazy wondering what was going to happen in House of Hades now would I. Anyway don't mind me, please enjoy this chapter.  
**

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**ANNABETH PoV**

I took a deep breath as I walked to the entrance to my new school. The parking lot was filled with students, some who had just gotten there, some were waiting for their friends and some were just hanging out. Quite a few people turned to look at me as I passed by, I guess that was expected as I was the new girl who had joined in the middle of the term. I mentally cursed my mom for making me move to New York .

You see, two weeks ago my mom had showed at my Dad's house in San Francisco completely out of the blue. Apparently she felt bad for ignoring me for almost my entire life and wanted to be there for me more. She asked my dad if I could come live with her in New York and of course he more than happily agreed. I didn't even get a say in it which completely sucks and before I knew it I was already settled in my mom's penthouse.

So, now here I was. Maybe it could be a good thing. After all my life back home wasn't exactly great. I was the school nerd and didn't have any friends, my brothers and step mom hated me and my dad completely ignored me. The only good thing in my life had been Percy and when he disappeared all those years ago right after he promised that he'd always be there for me, everything just went downhill. But that was all in the past, I had just gotten a chance to start fresh and I was gonna make the best of it.

As I reached the entrance, I saw a girl with spiky black hair and punk style clothes arguing with a scrawny, pale, emo-looking kid with dark hair. Another girl with beautiful dark brown hair was standing to the side looking annoyed. I shook my head and went to the office to get my schedule.

The lady at the office handed me my schedule and I looked at it as I walked to my locker.

**Annabeth Chase's Schedule:**

**Entry: 8:10-8:20**

**1st Period: Algebra, 8:20-9:13, Mrs Dodds**

**2nd Period: English, 9:18-10:11, Mr Gold**

**3rd Period: World History, 10:16-11:09, Mrs Smith**

**Lunch: 11:14-12:07**

**4th Period: Biology, 12:12-1:05, Mr Williams**

**5th Period: Physical Education, 1:10-2:03, Coach Hedge**

**6th Period: Greek, 2:08-3:01, Mr Brunner**

**7th Period: Architecture, 3:06-4:00, Miss Fuller**

As I was reading this I felt like someone was staring at me. I looked up to see a boy around 6'3 with a swimmer's build and raven black hair staring at me from two lockers away. He was wearing a simple blue shirt under a leather jacket with a pair of Denims and black converse. A pair of sunglasses hid his eyes from view. He stared for a couple more seconds before turning to his locker, shoving a book into his backpack he closed his locker and rushed in the opposite direction of me. A blond haired guy with blue eyes that had been standing with the other guy gave me a confused glance and then disappeared in the crowd to catch up to his friend.

I felt confused and strangely nostalgic. I don't know why but the raven haired boy had seemed so familiar, like I had known him once upon a time. I sighed and pushed the thought out of my mind. I needed to get to class or I was going to be late and that was not something I wanted happening on my first day here.

After wandering around for a few minutes I finally got to my first class and took a seat in the middle of the room. The spiky haired girl I'd seen this morning was sitting on the seat next to me and was talking to the brown-haired girl who was sitting in front of her. Just then the teacher came in, she must have been around fifty years old and was wearing a leather jacket. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. The moment she entered the room everyone fell silent, obviously scared of her.

The class went on pretty uneventfully until about five minutes before the end of class. Mrs Dodds called upon the spiky haired girl glaring at her.

"Miss Grace, will you please tell me the answer to the question I just told you all to do?"

The girl glanced around nervously, it was evident from her expression that she had no idea what the answer was. I tilted my notebook slightly so that she could look at it properly without Mrs Dodds noticing. She glanced at the answer and then turned to the front of the room.

"Uh 15?" She said questioningly.

"Good. But I want you to pay more attention in class from next time." She said sharply. "Also I seem to notice that your cousin Mr Jackson and his friend Mr Castellan are not here. Would you by chance have any idea of their whereabouts?"

"Umm No ma'am, I don't." She said just as the bell rang.

"Very well. Next time you see them tell them to meet me after school."

With that everyone hurriedly shuffled out of the room.

"Hey." I turned around to see the spiky haired girl-okay now that's getting old-and her friend behind.

"Thanks for saving me from the old-hag back there. I'm Thalia by the way and this is my cousin Bianca Di Angelo."

"Annabeth Chase. And it was no problem."

The rest of the day I hung out with Thalia and Bianca and they told me about themselves and how their fathers were all super rich and they used their mother's maiden names in order to not attract too much attention and I told them about how my mother practically dragged to me New York to live with her. I also met Nico, Bianca's brother whom I had English with. They were all really cool people and never made me feel left out. My day was going so well that I should have known that something was going to wrong.

When Lunch came around Thalia invited me to sit with her and her friends. As she led me to the table I saw Bianca and the raven-haired kid from this morning silently arguing about something, the blonde guy was there too. As Thalia and I sat across from them the two stopped arguing and the boy looked up.

He wasn't wearing his sunglasses anymore and I could see his eyes. His beautiful intense sea-green eyes that had always reminded me of the ocean. They were exactly like I had remembered them, but instead of the playful-happiness and innocence that his eyes had shone with I saw raw pain, so intense that I wanted to look away. But I didn't instead I just stared at him and he simply stared back.

A thousand images flashed before my eyes-the two of us splashing each other at the beach-making sandcastles together-eating ice-cream on the swing set in his front lawn-making blue chocolate chip cookies with his mom. They were some of the happiest memories of my life.

I realized that everyone had grown silent and was staring at us. I didn't care though, I kept staring at my child-hood best friend who had disappeared all those years ago without so much as a goodbye. Right after he promised to always be there for me.

"Percy?" I asked my voice shaking. I didn't get my answer though as he just stood up and ran out of the room. Blonde guy looked at me then at Percy's retreating figure. Then silently cursing under his breath ran after him. The whole cafeteria was now staring at us so I gathered my stuff and left as well. Ignoring Thalia and Bianca's protests.

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**Percy PoV**

I ran out of the cafeteria as images from my past bombarded me. The past that I had wanted to forget so badly. I ran until I reached the abandoned hallway that no one ever used. It was where I'd go whenever I had a flashback or something and only Luke and my cousins knew about it. I slid down the wall and covered my face.

I could feel the tears that were streaming down my face but I didn't care. All I could think about was my mom and Paul and how...

I was broken out of my thoughts as someone sat down beside me. I looked up to see Luke, he was looking at me with a concerned face.

"Dude" He said trying to sound casual but I could sense the worry in his words. "If your dad finds out that I keep losing track of you he's gonna kill me. So, could you please stop running away like that."

I snorted and wiped the tears from my face.

"So, What's up with you and Miss Blondie?" He asked carefully.

"She hates it when someone calls her that." I said silently and Luke gave me a questioningly. So I explained to him the situation with Annabeth and he listened patiently and when I was done he didn't say anything for a moment the he turned to me and said

"So, what are you gonna do now?" He asked when I was finished.

"I don't know. I mean I want to tell her I really do she was my best friend, heck she still is but I don't want her to get dragged into this mess. I can't put her in danger. You know what happened..." I trailed off but he understood.

"Look, lunch is almost over so we better get out of here." He said and we got up. "What are you gonna do about Thalia and the others? They're gonna want answers as to your little-whatever that was-out there."

"I don't know."

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**Important AN Please read.**

**Hey, so the winners for last chapters question are-**

**zeester and Just-Awesome-Old-Me. **

**If you could give me your email IDs i'll mail you the sneak peak from coming chapters.**

**Also to a Guest who reviewed in my AN, nothings gonna happen to this story. I have just put it on hold for a while till my exams are over after that am gonna be back and updating. I am sorry if I didn't make it clear in the AN.**

**Thanxx for reading.**

**-Scarlet**

**P.S: They just released the SOM in India and I watched it and I thought it was nice but extremely different from the book, I mean Kronos did not rise for a second in SOM that was just ridiculous. But any way what did you guys think about it? Tell me in a review it'll make my day.**


	5. Arguments and Running Away

**My mid-terms are over. FINALLY! I sat down straight away to right this as soon as I got back home today. It still took me longer than usual cause I was slightly blocked but since I promised you guys a chapter I worked around it and I think this chapter turned out pretty great in the end. Though the length isn't much I am sure all the drama should make up for it. Anyway, carry on reading and I hope you enjoy reading it cause I sure enjoyed writing it.**

**DISCLAIMER: (Do I really have to do this in every chapter.) You know the drill, I don't own this Rick Riordan does. All I own is a crappy old laptop to write fanfiction with, so don't sue me I'm already broke.**

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**Percy PoV**

As I walked down the empty hallways with Luke on my trail the door to the girls bathroom opened and a red eyed Annabeth stepped. She looked up and started at me furiously I ducked my head and tried to walk past her but she stepped in front of me, blocking my way.

"You think you can disappear for four years without so much as a phone call and get away with it." She asked angrily.

"What do you want me to say?" I replied coldly not looking her in the eyes. I really did not want to do this.

"Oh I don't know maybe 'I am sorry for vanishing without so much as a goodbye and I am sorry for not calling ONCE in the past FOUR years.' Or maybe even ask me how my life has been since you left."

"FINE! How have you been Annabeth? Long time no see." I said in an exasperated tone. Just then the bell rang signalling the end of Lunch and kids slowly started coming out into the hallways.

"Oh I must say my life has been absolute hell just like it was before you left only it was worse this time because my best friend, my only friend wasn't there and I was all alone. I had to deal with all the crap alone while you were chilling here in New York with your new friends."

"You have no right to talk about things you know nothing about. The past four years haven't been easy for me either. You don't know anything."

For a moment she didn't say anything but then whispered "You promised."

"I know." I said finally looking into her eyes before turning and running off towards the parking lot. I didn't check to see if anyone was following me I just ran to my car started the engine and sped away. I didn't care that I was putting my life in possible danger by leaving without Luke. I didn't care that my Dad was gonna kill me. Right then all I cared about was getting away from Annabeth and all that drama.

But even as I drove away I could hear those two words playing again and again in my mind **"You promised."**

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**AN: That would have been a nice place to end but I have been away for quiet a while and you guys deserve a chapter worth that long wait. So we shall continue but in Annabeth's PoV now.**

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**Annabeth PoV**

"I know." He said quietly our eyes met for a split second and in that split second I noticed how much pain his eyes were reflecting. All that pain and suffering was too much for someone his age. _What happened to him?_ I thought as he once again ran away. He seemed to be doing that a lot today, speaking of which. Annabeth noticed how the surfer dude- Luke -swore under his breath and tried to catch up with Percy.

Come to think of it Luke had been with Percy every single time she had seen him that day. He had been there when she had caught Percy staring at her this morning, he was there at lunch and he was the one who had gotten up to chase after him, he had been standing behind him the whole time they had argued and now as Percy fled-yet again-Luke had followed-yet again-like his life depended on it. I didn't know why but I just felt that there was something weird about that.

As I was thinking, Thalia stepped out of the crowd and glared at them and told them all that the drama was over and to get lost. She said it with so much authority that everyone quickly left. Thalia walked towards her and said.

"Look Annabeth, I don't know what happened between the two of you before..." she caught herself and then continued after a moment "before he came to New York but cut him slack, he has been through enough as it is and he was just starting to get back to his normal self..." she paused again "look, just please forget about it and go on with your life cause he really doesn't need all this drama right now."

Before I could reply or question her about what she had said Luke came running to us. Worry etched on his face.

"Percy left and I don't know where to." He said to Thalia who cursed loudly _What's with all the cursing?_ I thought. She pulled a cell phone out of her pocket and violently punched in a number. She held it to her ear for a few moment before angrily shoving it back into her pocket.

"Straight to voice mail." She said. Just then Nico and Bianca came up to us. They looked at Luke then simultaneously asked "Where's Percy?'

"He left and he's turned his phone off and we have no idea where he is and his dad's going to kill me." Luke answered.

"Alone! does he have a death wish? We need to find him before something happens come on we'll take my car" He said dragging Luke with him.

"Umm can someone explain to me what is going on here?"

"Forget about it Annabeth. It will be best if you don't know." Bianca said calmly and then the two cousins walked away leaving me confused in the now deserted hallway.

I knew something was going on something related to the reason Percy left. From the way they were talking it sounded like Percy's life was in danger. But, why? I didn't know. Not yet but I was gonna find out.

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**AN: I had half a mind to leave it there but that's barely a thousand words so on we go. I'm gonna switch back to Percy PoV and there will be a time lapse of a couple hours. This scene will contain major hints as to what happened to Percy, so sit back relax and enjoy.**

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**Percy PoV**

It was nearly eleven when I finally got home to see my dad sitting on the kitchen counter obviously waiting up for me. He looked up as I walked in, his expression a mixture of relief and anger.

"Where have you been? And why on Earth would you run off alone and switch your phone off. Do you have any idea what could have happened are you insane."

"I know exactly what could have happened dad. It has happened to me before remember. But it didn't happen nothing happened so can you just drop it" I said raising my voice. I turned and ran to my room. I could hear my dad telling me to come back and that he wasn't done talking yet but I was done listening. So I slammed the door behind me and locked it just in case dad had the brilliant idea to follow me.

I went to my dresser and pushed my hair back. I looked at the scar resting just above my left eyebrow and all the painful memories flooded back. I had another one on my abdomen, just below my rib cage but that was from a stab wound while this one was different. It was more of a brand than a scar a simple A carved into my skin with a knife in such a way that it would stay there forever. A souvenir from my time in hell. I still remembered clearly how painfully agonizing the process had been. He had screamed himself hoarse, begging Him to stop but all that did was encourage him to keep going.

I sat back down on my bed and buried my head in my hands as silent tears fell down my face. This wasn't fair, he had already went through hell and back and now when he had finally started recovering his past had to come back and hit him in the face. The argument with Annabeth had re-opened the still healing wounds the flashback he had had a little after he left the high school was still fresh in his mind and it felt so real that for a few scary moments he had thought he had actually gone back there but luckily he had been able to pull himself together and snap out of it. But he knew he won't be able to next time it happened and he knew that there would definitely be a next time. How could there not.

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**So, What do you think? Like it? Hate it? Review and tell me.**

**Also the mystery has started to unfold a little and I hope those little hints were helpful and don't worry if they just made you even more confused cause the whole thing will be revealed in the next two or three chapters, I think.**

**One more thing the person whose guess as to what happened is the closest to what I have planned will get a shout out and cookies! So put your thinking caps on and guess away.**

**Till next time. Byee.**

**-Scarlet**

**P.S: The more reviews I get the more motivated I will be to write the next chapter faster meaning the more the reviews the faster I update so remember everyone leave me loads of long reviews and make my day. Toodles.**


	6. Dead?

**Hey Guys,**

**I know I am late but I have solid excuses. Firstly I am knee deep in homework since school started, secondly I am currently reading The Cuckoo's Calling which is a great book by the way and lastly, my mom knows some publishers and she told me that I should write a set of short stories about ten to fifteen and she could send them to the publishers and I am working on it. So, yeah I have been busy. Well without further ado. I present you the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Me no own.**

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**Annabeth PoV**

That night I lay in my bed, unable to sleep. My brain was working in full swing trying to connect the dots in order to figure out what was going on with my childhood best friend. _Lets make a list of what I already know. _I thought to myself.

1. Something happened four years ago to make Percy disappear off the face of the Earth.

2. It had to have been terrible for his eyes to look so...pained, for lack of a better word.

3. He couldn't or wouldn't tell her what it was.

4. His cousins and the Luke guy obviously knew what it was.

5. There was something off about Luke Castellan that she couldn't put her finger on.

6. Percy was in some sort of danger if his cousins's behavior earlier today was any indication.

Well that's not much to go on. But I was determined to figure this out whatsoever. I got out of bed and crept to my desk where my laptop was lying I picked it up and then sat back down on the bed. I quickly switched it on and turned down the volume then opened up a search engine.

My fingers hovered over the keys for a moment before I decided to type in: **Percy Jackson** and then hit the search button. Loads of things came up (It turns out Percy Jackson isn't as rare a name as I had once thought) but nothing of any importance. The best I got were old articles about all the swimming prizes he had won pack when we were kids. What I found odd was that there was nothing on him after sixth grade. Not a single mention anywhere.

I sighed in disappointment. The more I looked into the situation the weirder it got. Maybe she should try and find out his address perhaps Sally would tell her what was going on. Wait, Sally... _Hmm it's worth a shot._ I thought as I typed **Sally Blofis-Jackson.** I clicked on the link that appeared and did a double take when I read the heading of the news article.

** Bestselling Author and Husband Die in Car Crash **

**It has been reported that bestselling Author, Sally Blofis-Jackson and her husband Paul Blofis died in a terrible car accident near...**

I stopped reading for a second and tried to even my breathing. Sally and Paul were _dead_. I couldn't believe it for a second, so I read the first line again and again until I was sure I was reading correctly. Then she read the rest of the article. It said that the accident took place in New York, that a drunk driver had collided with their taxi cab, that they were dead before the ambulance could get to them. She read over and over again but there was no mention of Percy in the article. According to the article Sally and Paul were in New York that day for an authors conference Sally had to attend and they had been on their way to check into their hotel when the accident happened.

It all seemed so flawless that she almost believed it _almost._ But what made her see through it was the fact that the day of the accident was the same date that she last saw Percy, the day he made the promise. So, it couldn't be true at least not the accident part of it. She could feel in her heart the Sally and Paul really were dead but it was not because some drunk driver hit them, they were dead for a completely different reason and she was going to find out what it was and nothing was going to stop her.

* * *

**Percy PoV**

**It was a dark moonless night and I was blindly running down a narrow road with dense woods on both sides surrounding me, suffocating me. I could hear the taunting voice, the menacing laughter behind me getting closer and closer. I was running as fast as I could but it was fast enough, He was catching up to me and my heart filled with despair. Suddenly, I tripped over a rock and fell face first on the ground. My whole body seemed to be paralyzed because I couldn't get up. A sob escaped me. This was it, he would catch me now and take me back to that hell and then once he got what he wanted- I was dead, literally. I felt strong arms grab my shoulders and pull me up. I screamed...**

and I woke up still screaming.

"Percy!" I heard a voice from beside me. "Percy, it's okay, you're safe. It was just a nightmare."

I blinked and my vision cleared. Dad was standing beside my bed his face creased with worry. I sat up and grabbed the glass of water standing on my nightstand and gulped it down.

"Sorry I woke you up." I said "But I am fine now you can go back to sleep."

"Percy" Dad said in a tired voice. "Look, I need you to talk to me about things okay. I know you don't like talking about what happened but you can at least tell me about the nightmares or the reason you ran off like that today."

"I...Annabeth's in New York. She goes to Goode, it was her first day and Thalia and Bianca befriended her and she recognized me so..." I trailed off.

"You bolted?" Dad guessed.

"Well, just to an abandoned corridor. But then when class was about to start I ran into her and we kinda had a spat and then I-I just needed to clear my mind. Everything that happened just came back to me all of a sudden and I panicked. I am sorry dad I know I was reckless and I promise I won't do something like that again."

"You better not or I will put you on house arrest for the rest of your life. Clear."

"Crystal." I said knowing he wasn't joking or exaggerating for that matter.

"Good. Now try going back to sleep you have school tomorrow." He said leaving the room.

I sighed. I knew I wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon so I didn't try. Instead I just lay there thinking about what I was going to tell Annabeth, she would obviously want answers and knowing her she would already have started researching. _Maybe I should just tell her._

NO! What am I thinking. Telling her would just put her in danger. But she wouldn't give up unless he tells her and sooner or later she will find out herself. I need to tell her to back off. If she finds out she would be in danger I can't let that happen but what can I do. I need to distract her or maybe sidetrack her or something.

And that was how I spent the rest of the night, thinking up ways to stop Annabeth from finding out my secret.

* * *

The next day all everybody seemed to be talking about was my spat with Annabeth. The whole day consisted of stupid classes that I didn't pay any attention to and people whispering behind my back. Rumors about me and Annabeth were spreading like wildfire. The most popular one being that we had dated once upon a time and I had cheated on her.

As if, had I ever gotten the chance to date Annabeth Chase I would never have let her go, let alone cheat on her. Weird thing was that Annabeth didn't talk to me all day, not once. Though I caught her looking at me with that calculating look on her face one time but she quickly looked away.

She didn't even talk to Thalia or Bianca and at Lunch it looked like she had made friends with two of the only nice cheerleaders in our school: Silena Beauregard and Juniper Bush. She sat with them and Charles Beckendorf, whom everyone called Beckendorf except for Silena who called him Charlie, Clarrise La Rue, Silena's best friend and Grover Underwood, Juniper's boyfriend.

After school we all decided to go to the movies (luckily they all seemed to have already forgiven me for bolting like that yesterday and didn't seem to want to bring it up). I had finally been feeling like things were starting to get back to normal after all the drama that ensued yesterday when everything came crashing down.

It all happened so fast I didn't know what was happening until it was too late. Nico and Thalia were buying the tickets, Luke was on the lookout like he always was when we were out and I was talking to Bianca about a new club she had joined recently. Suddenly, her eyes grew wide when she saw something over my shoulder. The next thing I knew I was lying on the ground, people were screaming and running there was utter chaos everywhere. Luke had his gun out and was talking really fast into an earpiece and Bianca...Well she was lying on the ground beside me clutching her stomach as blood seeped steadily out of a bullet hole.

"Bianca!" I yelled and kneeled down beside her. I couldn't believe this was happening. How could I have let this happen? How could I have let her take a bullet for me? A bullet! "Bianca hold on it will be okay, you'll be all right okay. We-we will get you to a hospital they'll fix you up you'll be fine." I said my voice shaking.

"T-tell Nico I-I love him. Okay."

"No, no you'll tell him yourself. You will be fine. You are gonna make it. I wont watch someone I love die, not again."

"I'm sorry Percy." Her eyes closed and her hand went limp in mine.

"NO! no no no." I sobbed. I felt someone kneel down beside me and hug me but I didn't look up all I could do was stare at the now lifeless body of my cousin and know that it was all my fault that she was dead.

* * *

**So, I killed Bianca. Sorry all Bianca lovers but it needed to be done you'll know soon enough.**

**Guys do tell me what you think about this chapter via reviews. Remember the more reviews I get the faster I update the next chapter which might just be a certain flashback that you all would love to see.**

**-Scarlet**


	7. Awkward Conversations

**Hey Guys,**

**I am alive. I'm so so sorry for not updating for so long. You see I literally re-wrote the whole chapter nearly five times before I got it right. Don't worry though I got the next chapter all planned out so it shouldn't take so long. Anyway I hope you all like this, even though this is just a filler chapter.**

* * *

**Annabeth Pov**

I tuned out all the noise around me and concentrated on my childhood best friend who was currently sobbing on my shoulder. It was not something I was used to, Percy never really cried he was always smiling and cracking jokes. In all the time that I had known him I had only seen Percy cry twice-once when he had slipped down the stairs in school and broken his wrist and the time when he had found a lost puppy and had taken a liking to it only to have to return it when it's owners came looking.

Now, Percy was crying because his cousin had just died in his arms.

I sighed and looked over my shoulder at the two girls standing awkwardly a little way away.I had come to a movie with two of my new friends Silena and Juniper who were both really sweet. I had been looking forward to getting to know them a little better but had never gotten the chance. She gave them a look saying she was fine for now and that they should leave. They nodded in reply and left.

I turned my attention to Thalia and Luke, who were talking frantically in low voices. Nico had, a few minutes ago, yelled at Percy how this was all his fault and then stormed out. I didn't know how it could possible be Percy's fault that some random stranger had decided to shoot people and Bianca had been in the range of fire.

But the more I thought about the less random it seemed. After all no one else had been hurt, hell there hadn't even been any other shots fired. Also, Bianca wasn't exactly been in the range of fire in the first place. When I had spotted Percy and Bianca the latter had been staring at a guy over Percy's shoulder then as said guy had taken out his gun and pointed it straight at Percy, Bianca had pushed him out f the way.

But, what I didn't get was why someone would try to kill Percy.

Before I knew it I was being driven home by Thalia who was telling me something about keeping quiet about what happened today. But, all I thought about was why someone was trying to kill Percy and how I had to find out what was going on.

* * *

**The Next Day...**

As I stood at the gate of the huge mansion, something inside me told me not to do this but I didn't listen. Percy, his cousins and even Luke didn't show up to school today. Which I had expected, well maybe not Luke, but whatever. My questions unfortunately were left unanswered.

I had tried and tried to push it out of mind but I couldn't. So, here I was at Percy's doorstep looking for answers.

I steeled myself and wrung the doorbell. A moment later I heard a tired voice from the speaker above the doorbell.

"Who is it?" The voice sounded a lot like Percy's only much older.

"Umm I'm a friend of Percy's-Annabeth. I brought his homework." I answered trying not to let my nervousness show in my voice.

"Oh! Come on in." As he said that the gate opened and I stepped inside.

The interior of the house was beautiful and the bluish-green walls reminded her of the sea.

A middle aged man with raven-black, windswept hair and deep sea-green eyes sat on a couch in front of a huge flat screen T.V. There was no doubt this man was Percy's father.

When we were young all I had known about Percy's dad was that he was a busy man who traveled a lot and didn't have a lot of time to spend with him. To make up for it he would always make his short visits insanely fun and give amazing gifts that would make any kid jealous. I had never met Percy's dad, only heard about him from Percy himself.

"You must be Annabeth." Said Percy's dad. " I am Poseidon Olympia, Percy's dad."

"Yeah, uh Percy didn't show up to school today and neither did his cousins so I thought I'd bring his homework." I said nervously.

"Annabeth, you don't need to lie to me. I know you are Percy's childhood friend from San Francisco and that you were there when Bianca died. Percy actually told me not to let you in this morning. But I think it would be good for him to talk to someone. He hasn't come out of his room since he came home yesterday."

"Um Mr Olympia" I began. But he cut me off. "Please call me Poseidon Mr Olympia makes me sound old."

"Right. Um, I am just curious. Why is Percy here in New York and where are Sally and Paul?" I asked carefully.

"That is not my story to tell. Percy will tell you when he is ready. I am sure he will. Now, why don't you go talk to him, his room is on the first floor, second door to the left."

I said my thanks to him and raced up the stairs and stopped in front of Percy's door. I knocked lightly and heard a muffled "What?" from inside.

"Um Percy..." I said nervously. Before I could continue the door flew open and Percy was standing in front of me. He was still wearing the same clothes he'd been wearing yesterday, his eyes were puffy and red from crying and his face was streaked with tears.

"I thought you would come. Told dad to keep you out, obviously he did otherwise." He said in an annoyed tone.

"How did you know I was going to come?" I asked curiously.

"Because you're you and you probably got my address from Juniper I take it."

"How did you..."

"Juniper got it from Grover Underwood, her boyfriend that she's been secretly dating for a few weeks now. Grover also happened to be my best friend but he is out of town right now."

"Oh..." As he called this Grover guy his best friend I felt a twinge of jealousy deep inside me. Back when we were kids we had been the school freaks and no one had wanted to hang out with so we'd only ever had each other and now hearing him calling someone else his best friend made me sad. Hearing it made the possibility of us never being friends again a tad more real.

"Look Percy, I just want to know what's going on. That's it, you tell me and I will leave you alone I swear."

He seemed to be contemplating it for a moment then said. "Sorry can't help you there."

"Percy please, I am your friend or at least I was until you disappeared on me. You owe me an explanation."

"I don't owe you anything. Go home Annabeth and forget you ever knew me, looking into my past will do you no good." He said seriously.

"If you don't tell me then I will find it out myself. You know very well that I can."

"Annabeth take my advice go home, forget about this, all of this. You still have a life and I don't want another death on my hands. Knowing the truth will not help you, just put you in danger." He had backed into his room by now and was sitting on the edge of a twin bed that stood in the center of the large walls were a beautiful shade of sea-green that matched his eyes. There were band posters here and there and a few photo frames with pictures of him and his mom and step dad.

His warning sent chills down my spine and from the way he said it, I was compelled to listen to him but being the stubborn little girl I was I decided that I needed to know the truth. As I studied his face, I saw something resembling a scar just above his left eyebrow, partially hidden by his raven-black hair.

I don't know why but I stepped forward and brushed his hair back, getting a good look at the scar. A small gasp escaped me, as I saw the small 'A' shaped scar, it looked like someone had carved it into his skin with a knife. Percy didn't move but sighed.

"Still wanna know what happened?"

"More than ever." I answered truthfully.

He chuckled slightly. "I thought you'd say that."

* * *

**So, what do you think? Should he tell her or not.**

**Why don't you tell me what you think via reviews. Remember the more reviews I get the faster I update.**

**-Scarlet.**


	8. Revelations of the Past

**Hey Guys,**

**Look at that I am already updating and it's my longest chapter yet. You guys better like it. So without stalling anymore, here you are enjoy...**

**Percy PoV**

**I didn't know why but I suddenly found myself awake at two in the morning. I had been having a pleasant dream about a picnic on a beach or something like that and had abruptly woken up for seemingly no reason at all. What could have woken me up? I thought.**

**My unspoken question was answered in mere seconds by a somewhat muffled crash from downstairs. I got out of bed, grabbed a baseball bat that had been present from dad for my last birthday and carefully opened the door. The landing was empty and an eerie silence had spread across the house.**

**I tiptoed my way to the stairs on the other end of the hallway, only stopping to peek into my mom and Paul's bedroom to find it empty. _What was going on?_ I wondered as I crept down the dark stairs as carefully as possible in order to avoid slipping. But I wasn't careful enough. At the second last step my foot hit something and I fell headfirst to the ground. A pain shot through my left wrist, not enough for it to be broken, so it was probably just sprained. ****I looked up to see what I had fallen over and froze in place. **

**There sprawled on the last step was my stepfather's now lifeless body. Blood was oozing out of a deep looking hole on his forehead. His eyes were wide open staring into nothingness, the warmth and kindness that they had once shone with now gone.**

**I sat there frozen in terror my eyes wide and mouth open for what seemed like ages. I was brought back from my shocked stupor by another crash from the kitchen. I grabbed the baseball bat and ran to the kitchen what I saw inside was worse than what I had seen moments ago.**

**A tall, dark haired man in all black stood with his back to the doorway a gun raised in one hand. In front of him, my mom stood, backed up in a corner. Her chocolate brown hair was a mess, her face contorted with worry and her soft blue eyes shone with fear. She looked at me and her expression changed. **

**In the instant that our eyes met I knew she wanted me to leave, to run away and hide to leave her to die. But I couldn't make myself. So, I stood there for the second time that night, frozen in fear.**

**The gun must have had a silencer because it wasn't until she fell to the floor clutching her stomach that I realized my mother had been shot. I felt fury boil inside me and I ran forward smacking the gunman in the head with the baseball bat. The man fell to the floor just as I heard mom groan from the corner. The anger and fury was replaced by dread and I abandoned the bat and ran to my mother.**

**"Mom!" I said kneeling down next to her and taking her hand. My vision blurred as I felt tears roll down my cheeks but I didn't care.**

**"Percy" Mom said in a shaky whisper. "Sweetie you have to stay strong Okay. You are going to get through this alright. Don't lose hope and always remember that I love you and even if doesn't seem like it I am always with you. I love you sweetie." **

**"I love you too." I whispered back as the light in her eyes died down and I knew she was dead.**

**"How pathetically sweet, it makes me want to puke." Said a cold voice from behind me that sent shivers down my spine. "Perseus Jackson right." He said as I turned.**

**I didn't speak instead I ran as fast as I could towards the back door. Before I could make it though I felt strong hands grab me by my shoulders. I struggled and screamed for help but he covered my mouth with his hand. Trying to get free I bit his hand.**

**Big mistake. He screamed a profanity and dug a knife into my abdomen, just under my rib cage. Not too deep but enough to make me yell in pain and drop to my knees. **

**"That's what you get for not listening, you little punk." He took a handkerchief out of his pocket and dampened it then covered my face with it. I took an involuntary breath and started to get woozy. As I lost consciousness the last thing I saw was my mother's dead body and then the darkness took over.  
**

* * *

**I blinked my eyes open fighting the urge to just lay there and sleep forever. My head throbbed and there was a dull pain on my abdomen just below my rib cage but I ignored it for now. At first I was confused as to where I was and what was going on but then the events of last night came back to me-waking up in the middle of the night, falling over Paul's lifeless body, watching from the sidelines as the dark-haired man shot my mom, kneeling beside her as she breathed her last breath, unable to do anything, being stabbed while I struggled to break free of the murderer's strong grip on my shoulder.**

**Tears started streaming down my face again but I quickly wiped them away. My mom had died trying to protect me, in her very last moments she'd told me stay strong and to not give up. She had died protecting me and I couldn't let her death be in vain. So, I didn't cry, that could come later instead I focused on making a plan to get out of here preferably alive.**

**As I took stock of my surroundings I saw that I was in a dark cell of some sort. Three of the walls were bare and windowless while the last one was made solely out of metal bars. It looked exactly like the jail cells one saw in movies only this wasn't a movie and there was little to no chance that I would get out of here alive.**

**I also noticed that there were messy bandages covering the stab wound. So the dark haired man must have patched me up when I was unconscious. **

** Suddenly the silence was broken by a door opening somewhere outside my cell and heavy footsteps could be heard coming towards my cell. A moment later the dark haired man appeared at the door of the cell. He had a heavy looking metal cup in his hand. Taking out a key from his pocket he quickly opened the door and came in.**

**The first thing I noticed was that he left the key in the lock and the second thing I noticed was a small swizz knife poking out of his pants pocket.**

**"Ah good you are awake." He said in his cold voice and then handed me the cup which was as heavy as it had looked. "Drink up you'll only get it twice a day."**

**I took the cup and gulped down the water only now realizing how thirsty I was. Once I was done he started speaking again.**

**" We will be having a little chat with your dear father soon. Let me make somethings clear-you will only speak when spoken to and do exactly as I say or else..." To emphasize the threat he punched me, hard. "Are we clear?" I nodded. "Good. Now stand still while I put this blindfold on you."**

**Once I was securely blindfolded he led me out of the cell through a metal door and up a staircase. Finally we entered a new room and he had me down a chair and then taped my hands to the armrests. **

**"Why are you doing this?" I asked sounding a lot like some victim in a crime movie.**

**"It's nothing personal really. I wanted something from your dad, he wouldn't give it up. So I decided to play a little game with him. I take something of his and in return I get what I want."**

**"This is all a game to you then. Killing my parents, kidnapping me all just a little game."**

**"I would have let them live but they wouldn't get out of my way and I always get what I wan't so they had to be eliminated. Now shut up." He said again emphasizing his point with a punch to my already sore jaw.**

**I heard a faint noise in front of me and then my kidnapper started talking to someone. It took me a second to realize that he was talking to my dad.**

_**"Just let me talk to him first. Please Atlas." **_**I heard my dad say a little while later. **

**"Of course." the man-Atlas-said.**

**I felt him take my blind fold off and I blinked rapidly for a second. Then I looked up to see Atlas turning a laptop that sat on a small table in front of me so that it faced me. **

**As he saw me, my dad sighed in relief. **

**"Percy, I am so sorry this happened to you I will get you out of there I promise."**

**"Believe me now?" Atlas said from beside me. "I am gonna give you one week to get me what I want Poseidon or else..." **

**I knew what was coming a second before it did and I braced myself as best as I possibly could before the flurry of punches rained down on me. Even though I had braced myself it still hurt like hell and I was only partially aware of dad shouting in the background yelling for Atlas to stop. And he did, but not before he had punched my face, chest, gut enough times that it would probably hurt for the next six months or so.**

**Once he was done, he grinned like a maniac and told dad that he would disconnect the call in exactly fifteen seconds and that he should say his goodbyes while he could.**

**_"Percy I will do everything in my power to get you out of there I promise you. Okay, just hang on. I WILL get you out. I love you..." _If he had anything else to say I couldn't find out because at that moment Atlas disconnected the call_. _  
**

* * *

**It had been four or five days since I had been trapped in this hellhole and I was still sore from the bruises I had gotten on my first day here. It didn't help that Atlas would add at least five or six new once to the collection on a daily basis. **

**Last night when he had come to give me my food-moldy stale bread-he had taken out his swizz army knife and carved the letter 'A' on my forehead just above my left eyebrow and it hurt worse than when he'd stabbed me. Why though I had no idea.**

**But anyway, last night I put my plan into motion. I had noticed that Atlas always left the keys on the lock and I had decided to use it to my advantage. I had hidden the metal cup with me and now everything was up to my luck. **

**If you think about it my plan was a really bad one but it was all I had and I was gonna die either way so it didn't matter. **

**Atlas came in right on time with the moldy bread. **

**"Hey!" I said as he entered. "I think my wrists broken."**

**"So?"**

**"Can't you at least look at it and tell me if it's broken or not."**

**"Fine give me your hand." He grunted. **

**As he knelt down in front of me I handed him my left hand and sneaked my right one behind my back. In one swift move I brought out the metal cup and banged it on his temple as hard as I could. **

**The distraction was just enough as he let go of my hand, I ran as fast as I could and locked the cell door yanking the key out of the lock and clutching it tightly as I ran. Behind me Atlas yelled for me to stop and come back, threatening to kill me otherwise but I didn't stop I ran and kept running. Out the metal door, up the stairs and out of the house. I stopped for a second when I realized that the house was somewhere in the middle of nowhere.**

**There was a narrow dirt driveway that led to the main road which was surrounded by woods on both sides. I took a deep breath and ran away form the house, away from that hellhole, away from that murderer. Hoping beyond hope that I never have to see his face ever again. As I ran I threw the keys I had been holding all this time into the woods.**

* * *

**I must have ran a whole hour or so before I finally stopped to take a break. The sun was setting in the horizon and it was starting to get dark. My stomach was rumbling and my whole body was aching. I hadn't had anything to eat since last night and the fatigue was starting to get to me.**

**But I couldn't let it take over not now. I could feel a little blood seep out of my bandages. This was not good, so not good. I had to get up, keep moving. But I couldn't make myself, I was too tired and all I wanted to do was lie down and sleep.**

**Just as I was about to lose consciousness though two beams of light shone upon me. I looked up to see a car stop in front of me. It was a black limo with the windows all rolled up. **

**Suddenly there was a fiery haired girl with pretty green eyes beside me. She shook me lightly breaking me out of my reverie.**

**"OH MY GOD!" She said. "Are you okay? Oh what am I saying you're obviously not OKAY. Stephen! Help me get him into the car." she said turning to the car. A man that I assumed was her chauffeur came out and the next thing I know I was sitting in the car with the girl.**

**"Hey!" She said shaking me again. "You need to stay awake. Talk to me. What's your name? How old are you?"**

**"Percy Jackson." I said slowly. "I am twelve. You?"**

**"I am Rachel Elizabeth Dare. I am on my way to my parents holiday home in San Francisco, at least I was until I ran into you. Oh and I am twelve too."**

**"I was kidnapped from my home about five or six days ago. The kidnapper-Atlas-had me locked up in an old house a couple miles from here I somehow I escaped and had been running for ages until you found me."**

**"Wow. That must have been really scary." What was I thinking telling her all that? Oh right I wasn't thinking I was trying to stay awake. Now I had scared her off and she would probably just leave me on the side of the road and run away. Instead she said..**

**"We'll get you to the nearest hospital. ASAP, cool?" Then she dug a cell phone out of her pocket and handed it to me. "Call your dad and tell him you're safe."**

**I nodded and dialed the no. I was surprised when he picked up on the first ring.**

_**"Hello?"**_** came a tired voice on the other hand.**

**"Dad, I-it's me Percy."**

_**"P-Percy! Oh my God! Are you okay? What's going on? Who's phone are you using?"**_

**"Rachel Elizabeth Dare's" I said yawning. I was slipping into the darkness and I knew I wouldn't be able to stay awake much longer.**

_**"Rachel? Who is Ra..." **_**That was the last thing I heard before the phone slipped from my hand and the darkness took over.**

* * *

**I could hear a continuous beeping noise and faint voices of people talking, somewhere close by. But I couldn't understand what they were saying. I tried to focus but the few words that I did catch made no sense at all.**

**"_-too much blood loss-"_**

**"-_slipped into a coma-"_**

**_"-ever wake up?-"_**

**_"-is ready to-"_**

**After a while things started to get clearer, I could understand what the people around me were saying I even recognized some of the voices. One of them being my dad's and the other being that Rachel girl's.**

**My dad was almost always there and he kept telling me that I was going to be okay asking me to wake up soon or squeeze his hand if I could hear him and I tried. I really did, to wake up or at least squeeze his hand. To give him some signal that I could hear him and that I really was okay but my body didn't respond it never did. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't feel a thing.**

**When the feeling returned, so did the pain. But it wasn't too much and I was just glad that I could feel again. This time when my dad asked me to open my eyes I did.**

**I opened them slightly and then squeezed them shut again because of the harsh light. **

**"Percy!" I heard dad say and I blinked my eyes a few times to adjust to the light.**

**"Dad?" I croaked out before he tackled me into a hug.**

**And that was when I started to cry.**

* * *

**-End Flashback-**

I looked at Annabeth who had tears in her eyes. I didn't want to tell her but I knew she would keep looking ad that would put her in danger.

"B-but why did you disappear and why didn't you just tell me what happened? Why are you hiding what happened?"

"Because Annabeth Atlas want's me dead and Atlas always get what he wants."

"I don't understand. He's in jail now right?"

"Do you know why Bianca's dead Annabeth?"

She shook her head 'No'.

"It's because he was never caught and he always get's what he wants and he wants me dead."

* * *

**And done. Ohh that was long.**

**So, I have been writing like a maniac all night long to give you this chapter, the least you guys can do is drop a review. Hey, that rhymed sort of.**

**Anyway I am off to make coffee, loads of coffee cause I have a lot of work to do. Buh Bye.**

**-Scarlet**


	9. You totally like him!

**Hey Guys,**

**I hadn't planned on updating so soon but I just finished HoH this morning since they only released it here on the 15th. Anyway as I finished it, I got great inspiration and so I sat down to write and after an hour of continuous writing voila! I have a complete chapter ready to be posted. Isn't that just great. Anyway you guys can read now. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I own this laptop that I am using to post this fic but sadly I don't own the characters that I am writing about. They belong to Rick Riordan, not me. So don't sue me.**

* * *

**Annabeth PoV**

That night I lay in bed unable to sleep. No surprise there, I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep for at least another week after finding out what had really happened to Percy all those years ago.

When I had first looked into his deep sea-green eyes that day at the lunch table I had known that he had been through something bad. But I had never imagined it would be this horrible. I mean finding his step-father's dead body, watching his mother who had been his whole world murdered in front of his eyes, being kidnapped by a psycho. It was a miracle he was still sane. If I were in his place I would definitely have gone crazy.

Maybe he did, at first and had just been recovering. His cousins did say something about him finally getting better after he had run off that day. As I lay there thinking about all of this, I felt really guilty for pushing Percy to tell me the truth like I did. I wished I hadn't he had been right when he said I shouldn't pry. It was not my place. Just because we had once been friends four years back doesn't mean we still were. I had no right to demand any answers. I really regretted it.

I will give him his space from now on. I decided. I would focus on my studies and hang out with Silena and Juniper. He had his own little group now and who was I to disrupt their peace. I would stay away and if he want's to be friends well I will happily agree. But I will let him make that decision. He deserved that much and I didn't want to hurt him any more than I already had.

Though I have to say, when he'd told me he had a new best friend I had felt really jealous. I mean ever since I had known him he'd never called anyone except for me and his mom his best friend and it had felt really weird. The last four years whenever I had thought of meeting him again, I had imagined a scrawny, goofy kid. I had imagined him apologizing to me for breaking his promise and calling me Wise Girl like he had used to. I had not expected the tall, well built kid with an aura of sadness around him. And now all that I had imagined seemed like a childish dream.

I lay there blissfully remembering the good old days when we would got to the beach or make fun of the school bullies while eating ice-cream on his porch. I thought about Sally, the way she smiled and her delicious blue cookies that she would make for me and Percy whenever I came over for sleepovers and the way she would scold us when we spilled a bottle of Coke on Percy's bed. And I felt sad because I knew that I would never see her warm motherly smile again. She had been like the mother I had never had and she loved me like her own daughter.

I felt a few tears roll down my cheeks as I thought of Sally and how much I missed her. I thought of how much I missed Percy and the good old days and I cried because I knew they weren't coming back. That, however hard I hoped things would never go back to normal again. Not after what happened.

The rest of the night I lay there just thinking about how depressing that is.

* * *

The next day at school, I felt like crap. I had only gotten about an hour or so of sleep last night before the shrill ringing of my alarm clock had woken me up. I had considered staying in sick but I unfortunately had a pop-quiz today for Mrs Dodds's class so I couldn't do that. My whole day I walked around like a zombie and tried not to fall asleep.

I did notice that Percy and Luke still weren't at school today even though Thalia and Nico had finally showed up. Whereas I felt like a zombie, Nico literally looked like a dead man walking. Thalia wasn't exactly cheery either but she wasn't as sullen as Nico.

As I headed to lunch I bumped into Thalia.

"Hey Annabeth." She said uneasily.

"Um Hey." I said feeling equally awkward.

"So, Percy told you huh."

"Uh yeah he did. I kinda feel bad for asking now."

"I know how that feels."

"So, um I noticed Percy's still skipping."

"Uncle P put him on house arrest actually. At least for a while until he thinks safe enough to send him to school again. Not that he minds really. He has been holed up in his room ever since...you know."

"Yeah" I said knowing she was referring to Bianca's death.

"He won't come out or let us in. He's taken it really hard especially since it's the third time it's happened. I can't even imagine how he must be feeling right now. He won't let any of us help him either." She took a deep breath. "Well don't let me keep you. I should go anyway." with that she was gone.

"What was all that about?" I asked out loud to myself.

* * *

"Hey Annabeth, you look like crap."

"Thanks Juniper. I feel like crap." I said as I slid into the empty seat next to Juniper on the lunch table and put my head down on the table. Oh what I would give to be sleeping in my bed right now.

"Long night?" She asked.

"I got about an hour of sleep last night." I said not looking up.

"Oh. Boy trouble?" She asked with a teasing tone.

"What makes you think so?"

"You went to see Percy Jackson yesterday and now you are having trouble sleeping. Not that hard to guess."

"Ugh It's not like that."

"Then what's it like?" Said Silena joining our conversation. "I mean there is obviously something going on between you two. That much is evident from the fight you guys had in the hallways your first day here."

"We just used to be friends a couple years back before he moved here and we sort of lost touch. That day we just started arguing about a little issue that had been left unresolved because of his move. I went to see him because I wanted to clear the air between us. That's it."

"Uh huh sure whatever you say." Said Silena. By the look on her face I could tell she was gonna lecture me about how I had to realize my feelings and all that stuff. I knew because Clarrise and Juniper had warned me that she tends to do that. Luckily for me Juniper spoke up then.

"Where is Percy anyway? I mean his cousins are back at school why isn't he?"

"He was in shock after what happened so his dad decided he should take a little vacation." I said quickly. "After all it was harder for him since he'd been standing right there when it happened."

"Yeah I guess that must have been terrible."

"So anyway Annie-" I gave Clarrise who had finally joined our conversation a glare"-tell us a little about your boyfriend-" another glare "-he is a complete mystery no one really knows anything about him." Silena and Juniper looked at me expectantly, I sighed.

"First of all, he is not my boyfriend we used to be friends when we were kids that's it. What do you wanna know about him?"

"Well why is he so distant and introverted?" Asked Clarrise.

"Well, his mom and step-dad died in a car crash," I said carefully. "that was why he moved in with his dad here in New York. Their deaths must have hit him hard, he was really close to them both. But he wasn't like this before that he was quite the opposite actually. He was really scrawny and short and goofy. He was always cracking jokes and playing pranks and just enjoying every minute of his life. He was the kind of guy that could lighten the tension in a room just by walking in. He was a total Seaweed Brain."

"Seaweed Brain?" The three girls asked in perfect sync which kinda creeped me out a bit.

"Yeah that was my nickname for him."

"What did he call you?" asked Silena.

"Wise Girl."

"Hmm weird nick names. Why those?" asked Juniper.

"Well back in second grade, I was helping him with his math homework but he just couldn't understand the concept and he kept asking me stupid questions. Which annoyed me and I got angry and the we started fighting. I said his brain was so full seaweed that he couldn't fill any knowledge into it and said he was the worlds biggest Seaweed Brain. and he said 'and you are such a wise little girl.' and I said 'that's not an insult' and he said 'that's why you're Wise Girl' and I guess they just stuck."

"Wow the old Percy seems like a funny guy." commented Juniper.

"He was." I said slightly dreamily. Biggest mistake of my life.

Silena got this weird glint in her eyes, she looked at Juniper and then they both looked at me and said together "You Like Him!" while Clarrise threw her head back and started laughing really hard.

Uh oh. What had I just gotten myself into?

* * *

**I have finally started to spark up some romantic feelings towards a certain boy with sea-green eyes into the heart of a certain Wise Girl with grey eyes.**

**What do you think. Good? Bad? Rotten?**

**Tell me what you think via review. Those are what motivated me to update faster.**


	10. Look Who's Jealous

**Hey Guys,**

**Three updates in one week. I'm on a roll. I was up half the night writing this chapter because I couldn't sleep and I couldn't read a book cause my torch batteries died. So, I thought "there's my laptop, I should just write the next chapter and be done with it." And so here it is. I hope you guys like it.**

**Disclaimer: Me no own, you no sue.**

* * *

**Percy PoV**

It had been almost two weeks since Bianca died and dad had only just lifted my house arrest. Though only after he made me promise that I would

1) In no condition whatsoever go anywhere without Luke.

2) Come straight home at school or go to Thalia or Nico's place if we wanted to hang out and

3) If I did so I was to inform him first and be home by 8:30 at the latest.

I was more than happy to oblige. At first I had felt grateful for the house arrest since I didn't want to step out of the house anyway. I was 99% sure someone else would die if I did. Also, now that I had told Annabeth about everything I was a little confused as to where we stood. I had no clue if she still hated me or if she wanted to be friends again or if she just wanted me to stay away.

But after the first week of isolation I had started to get bored. By the tenth I was dying to get out of the house. I was so bored that even detention with Mrs Dodds sounded like fun. So I had kept bugging dad to let me go to school until he had finally caved in yesterday.

As I entered the school building people turned to look at me and every started whispering. I had a pretty good idea what they were talking about but I didn't care. I just ignored them and walked to my locker with Luke in tow. I was about to open it when my phone started vibrating in my pocket. I got it out and my face lit up as I saw the caller ID.

_"Hey Kelp Head. 'Sup?"_

"Hey Rachel! I haven't heard from you in a while. Where have you been."

"Turn around and I'll tell ya." I heard a very familiar voice from behind me. I turned around to be tackled by a blur of red. I hugged her back and she pulled back after a moment.

There in front of me stood Rachel Elizabeth Dare. She wore a band t-shirt and paint splattered jeans her flaming red hair was falling freely down her shoulders and her green eyes looked me over probably trying to determine something. What though I wasn't sure. One never could be with Rachel.

"Rach! What are you doing here?" I asked remembering that Rachel went to a fancy finishing school that her father had forced her into attending at the start of the school year.

"I got kicked out of Clarion. Not that I mind it. I hated it there but anyway, I convinced dad let me come back to Goode and after a while of pestering him he agreed." She said grinning mischievously.

"Kicked out? What did you do?"

"Bad mouthed to a teacher. It was worth it though. The old hag totally deserved it. Now..." She said handing me her schedule. "walk me to class."

I looked at her schedule and grinned, we had all the same classes together except for seventh period where I had Marine Biology while she had Art. My smiled widened, today was gonna be great.

* * *

" I swear you miss a couple days of school and it's like everyone's suddenly miles ahead of you." I said groaning at my math homework.

"I totally feel you." Rachel said from beside closing her own homework. We were currently sitting on my bed doing our homework or at least trying to.

"So Perce," Rachel said in a serious tone. "How are you holding up?"

"Truthfully, not good. It's just, I feel like this is all my fault you know. Nico won't talk to me and Thalia's stuck between the two of us and not to mention she's pretty miserable herself. The nightmares are back too and dad thinks that I should start seeing a shrink again. I feel lonely you know, Bianca was the one I'd go to when I had problems, we all did. But now she's gone and it's all my fault and I just don't know what to do." The whole time I was talking Rachel kept silent then when I was done she took my hand in hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"Then it's a good thing I am hear to stop you from doing something crazy. Huh."

"I guess it is." That was when Luke came in and asked if we wanted to hangout with him for a bit because he was bored. So we spent the rest of the evening playing video games and cracking joke and just having fun. And just for a while I forgot about everything that had happened and just enjoyed myself. If only for that little moment of bliss, everything was fine.

* * *

**Annabeth PoV**

As I sat in the front row waiting for the first class of the day to start, the door opened revealing none other than Percy Jackson. But that wasn't what sparked my interest, well not all of it. Walking beside him with her armed linked to his was a pretty girl with flaming red hair, paint splattered jeans and a band t-shirt of some band I'd never heard of.

The two of them walked to the back of the classroom talking and laughing, oblivious to the stares directed towards them. I stared at the two and from where I sat they looked like a couple. Could this girl be Percy's girlfriend? But Silena never mentioned that Percy had a girlfriend surely if it were truly so, wouldn't Silena had told her about it.

Wait, why was I thinking about this so much. What did I care if Percy had a girlfriend? Nothing really, nothing at all. As class started I tried to pay attention I really did but I just couldn't stop thinking about how Percy and the girl had been looking at each other. How, when they talked they didn't care at all about the rest of the world. How happy they looked together.

The list went on and on. I didn't know why I was thinking about it so much all I knew was that I had to stop. Maybe if I just knew who the girl was,I could stop speculating and move on.

So, at lunch I sat beside Silena and watched as Percy and the girl sat together at a lunch table all by themselves and Luke of course and the three of them talked and laughed around like they had known each other forever.

"Hey Silena," I said cautious not to sound anything but mildly curious. "who is that girl sitting with Percy and Luke."

"Oh that is Rachel Elizabeth Dare. She was friends with Percy last year and I think they even went out for a bit but they gave up on that. Not sure what she's doing back though. From what I remember her dad, who is super rich, sent her to some finishing school somewhere. Why do you ask? Are you jealous."

"No I am not! I was just curious is all" Even as I said it I felt my cheeks turning red.

"Then why are you blushing?"

"I um..."

"Speechless huh. Has little Annie got a crush." She said grinning evilly.

"Don't call me that and I don't have a crush on Percy." I hissed in annoyance. Why couldn't she just let it go. As I said it Juniper coughed while Clarrise simply started laughing. I was so glad Beckendorf wasn't here today.

"Please Annabeth" Clarrise snorted. "I am no love expert but even I can tell that you like him."

"How many times do I have to tell you guys that I. Do. Not. Like. Perseus. Jackson." I hissed trying to keep my voice down so that no one outside of our little group could hear.

"Annabeth you can deny it all you want but you like him, I know you do. Now, I am gonna go look for Charlie." With that Silena gave me an devilish grin and walked away. I looked at Juniper and Clarrise and asked

"She is not going to let it go is she?"

"Not a chance." Was the answer.

I banged my head on the table and groaned. This could not be happening.

* * *

As I entered my mom's apartment that evening I felt like something was weird. I dumped my bag in the living room and made my way into the kitchen and flicked on the lights.

"You're home late." My heart nearly jumped out of my chest. There sitting at the counter was my mom Athena. I looked at her suspiciously, she was never home before dinner at the latest.

"Mom! What are you doing here?"

"I decide to come home early today. Now where were you?"

"I was out with friends. Did you have something planned." I asked.

"I was hoping we could go out for dinner together you could tell me all about your friends and your school."

"Um Okay. I'll just get changed." My mom smiled at me and nodded. Which was kind of weird cause my mom hardly ever smiled.

* * *

Half an hour later I found myself sitting across my mom in a fancy Italian Restaurant. I was nervously playing with the pasta in my plate occasionally taking a few bites.

"So, how are you liking your new school?"

"It's pretty good I even made a couple friends and we went for a movie my second day but we never got to actually see it..." I paused as I realized I hadn't told her about the shooting.

"Movie? Was this the day of that shooting?"

"Um yeah. I kinda forgot to tell you. Sorry."

"Annabeth how could you forget something like that? You could have gotten hurt."

"But I wasn't mom. I am fine. Nothing happened to me. We were well away from the shooter."

"I am going to let this slide but from now on I want you tell me when something like this happens. Okay."

"Yes mom I will don't worry."

"Good. So, are there any cute guys in your class?"

"Mom!"

"What? Can't I talk to my only daughter about boys."

"No!"

"Fine. How about your friends? Tell me about them."

"Well there are these two girls Silena and Juniper, they're probably the only good cheerleaders in the school. They are really nice and help me out a lot. Though Silena can be a handful at times. There is also Clarrise, she is best friends with Silena but they are the exact opposite to each other. She is really strong and loves to get into fights."

And for the rest of the night we talked about all sorts of things. I was surprised that I actually had fun with her. Things weren't as awkward anymore and I felt like my life was finally getting better. I had friends, my mom cared about me, I wasn't lonely anymore. I felt happy but I also felt a small hole in that thin bubble of happiness that surrounded me right now. One that could only be filled by a certain Percy Jackson.

But for now I could live with it. For he was happy in his separate life and I had to learn to be so in my own. He deserved as much.

* * *

**Rachel's here and Annabeth's jealous, though she would never admit it. Her feelings for Percy are deepening. This is so much fun.**

**Tell me what you think about the chapter via review and if you have any suggestions or ideas for this story feel free to share them with me. **

**Till next time.**

**-Scarlet**


	11. Very Important!

**Hey Guys,**

**No this isn't an update. I am not that fast. Now please read this because it is important. I was about halfway done through the next chapter when I realized I needed to do a little tweaking with my timeline of the coming events so that they all fit together properly. So, it may take me a while to update. **

**But I don't want to leave all hanging. So I thought 'Why not write a couple one-shots in the meantime.'**

**The idea is to write a series of small one-shots of Percy and Annabeth's childhood in San Francisco.**

**What o you think should I do it? Do tell me via review or P.M. me. I would love to know what you guys think.**

**Thanks for listening or in this case reading.**

**-Scarlet.**


	12. Plans and Parties

**Hey Guys,**

**I know I haven't updated in a while but I posted four chapter last to last week for this fic and not to mention the two one-shots. So I decided to take a little break from writing. Instead I decided to read all the books I have wanted to for a while now. In the last two weeks I have read 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower', 'The Fault in Our Stars', 'Divergent' and am currently reading 'Specials'-the third book in Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series-which are all really amazing books and I encourage you to read them if you haven't already. **

**So, you see I have been busy. Luckily for you though my Diwali Break starts today, which means faster update. So Yaay! This chapter s just a filler chapter as you will see. But the real fun starts with the next chapter. But I hope you enjoy this anyway. **

**DISCLAIMER: If it isn't obvious already it probably never will be. I am just going to say that I am not Rick Riordan and hence do not own any of the recognizable characters.**

* * *

**Annabeth PoV**

As the weeks went by I noticed the tension between Nico and Percy. They never talked to each other anymore and sat on separate tables at lunch-Nico with Thalia and Percy with Luke, Rachel and Grover Underwood, the guy who Juniper was secretly dating.

I had asked Juniper why she hadn't told anyone about the relationship (she hadn't even told Silena) and she said that they were currently on a trial relationship and that she didn't want a big scene in case it didn't workout. She did tell me that if they made it exclusive she would tell the others. After that I didn't bother her more about it.

The past week had went by uneventfully and it was a Friday. I was on my way to Lunch when Thalia walked up to me.

"Hey Annabeth." She said cheerily.

"Um Hey. What's up?" I asked.

"Look I am throwing a party, in an attempt to get Nico and Percy to forgive each other and become friends again and I would like it if you and your friends came too. It would be a good chance for you to get to talk to Percy too."

"I don't..."

"Oh please I know you want to be friends again and I am pretty sure Percy want's that too."

"He does...um I mean."

"It's cool. Just tell me you're gonna come."

"Uh sure I guess."

"Great! See ya tonight at eight, my place." With that she walked away to God knows where leaving me utterly confused.

* * *

"Hey guys." I said sitting with my friends who were all already there, today Beckendorf was sitting with us. "Guess what happened." I asked turning to Clarrise who was sitting next to me.

"Annie got a date?" She teased.

"No and don't call me that." I said more annoyed than angry. "Thalia invited us to her party tonight. She wanted me tell you that you're all invited as well."

"Ooh I haven't been to a good party in a while, what do you think Charlie?" Silena said turning to Beckendorf.

"I'm in as long as you are." He answered.

"And you guys?" She said turning to Juniper and Clarrise.

"Sure." Juniper said.

"I don't really..." Clarrise started but Silena cut her off.

"Please please please." She begged.

"Fine, but I am not playing dress up."

"Maybe just a little-"

"Nuh uh. Not happening." Clarrise stated firmly and Silena pouted but didn't press it.

"Fine then" she huffed. "I guess it's just Annabeth then."

"What?"

"I am going to make you look so pretty-not that you aren't pretty-but a little help wouldn't hurt."

"I-"

"Great! I will come by your house at seven-ish and Charlie can pick us up around eight thirty."

"But-"

"Please, I won't go overboard I promise. I really want to do this."

"Fine." I said giving in and hoping it wouldn't be too the look on Clarrise's face though I was sure I was in for some trouble.

* * *

Five minutes to seven, Silena was at my door grinning like a mad man. I didn't know how she could grin so much. But from her grin I could tell she had something wild planned. Turns out I was wrong.

About fifty minutes later, I stood in front of my dresser, staring at my reflection with an awestruck look. Why? You may ask. Because I looked gorgeous. Simple, but gorgeous at the same time.

My outfit consisted of a pair of black, skinny jeans and a glittering gray top. Aside from that I had my owl ear rings on, which had been a birthday present from Percy back in Sixth grade. I also wore a silver charm bracelet that went perfectly with my top on my wrist.

Silena had also convinced me into putting on some make-up. It wasn't much just a thin layer of foundation and a light pink lip gloss. She had also made me put on eye-liner which made my eyes stand out in a good way. My hair was also left down and the princess curls cascaded down my shoulders gracefully.

"So, what do you think?" She asked.

"I think you are amazing. Thank you so much."

"Your welcome. I am just glad I can help you out with Percy."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh please drop that act. I know you like him and I know the only reason you're going to this party is so that you could get to talk to Percy and maybe become his friend again. Aren't you."

"Yeah." I said finally giving in. I needed someone to know so that I could talk to them about it and also so that I could get some advice on the topic. Who better for this than the Matchmaker Silena herself.

"Oh this is going to be so much fun!"

Okay maybe Juniper would have been a better choice. Oh well too late to back out now Annabeth. I told myself.

* * *

**Percy PoV**

"I still don't get what Thalia thought would happen." I said to Rachel as I walked towards the door.

"She was just trying to help out. She didn't think it would end this badly." Rachel consoled me.

"I know she didn't. It's just irritating you know. I don't think I am going to stay any longer. Can you see Luke anywhere."

"I am right here." Luke said appearing from the crowd behind me. "And I think you should stay for a little longer. For Thalia you know."

"I don't know. It's getting really crowded and I don't even know most of the people here."

"That's because you hardly ever talk to anyone other than your cousins, me and Grover." Rachel said. "Oh and Luke too of course."

"What if I said I was tired after that shouting match with Nico? Can I go home then." I argued.

"Look Perce I really think you should stay just a little longer. I mean Nico already left it will really hurt Thalia if you leave too." Luke said. He looked at something or someone over my shoulder and a smile appeared on his face."Plus, I think it's time you had a long awaited talk with a special someone."

I turned to see who he was referring to and my breath caught as I saw who it was. Annabeth stood a little way away talking to Juniper. She had her hair down and was wearing a thin layer of make up. From where I stood she looked really gorgeous. Well she always looked gorgeous to me but still.

"So that's why you wanted me to stay a little longer huh."

"Well it wasn't my plan really it was Thalia's. I was just helping her out." As Luke said that his phone buzzed. He took it out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID. If I had been in the right state of my mind I would have noticed how much he paled as he saw who it was. Or how his fingers started shaking slightly. But I was too busy thinking about Annabeth.

* * *

**So what do you think?**

**Tell me via review and keep in mind, the more reviews I get the faster I will update. So please please review.**

**Till next time.**

**-Scarlet**


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